by After Liverpool won the Champions League final in 2019, Jurgen Klopp was deep inside the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid trying to drink it, straight from a bottle of beer. As he walked into the dressing room Liverpool player Lee Nobes put a mobile phone in his hand. “I looked at the screen and it said ‘Pep’,” Klopp later revealed. He thought it was his assistant, Pep Lijnders. “It was only when I started talking that I realized it was the other Pep,” said Klopp.
That “other Pep” was Pep Guardiola. Nobes had been working at Manchester City until the previous November and although Klopp did not know who called, Guardiola wanted to speak to him to congratulate him.
Almost five years on, and possibly their last ever meeting, as they compete again for the Premier League title, this is a great moment. Imagine Arsene Wenger shouting at Sir Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho calling Rafael Benitez that way? Or, indeed, Mourinho calling Guardiola when they faced each other in Spain?
“They (Klopp and Guardiola) also have egos but the difference is that they respect each other because they know how good the other is,” said a source. Of course, it may have helped that Guardiola was looking to win a domestic treble, beating Liverpool on the final day by a single point to take the Premier League title. However, he and Klopp would joke that they had won the trophy the other wanted the most.
But what is even more remarkable is that it is not unusual. Guardiola and Klopp now speak “once in a while”, according to the source, because “they love each other”. There is mutual respect between the two best managers of their generation – who recognize each other as such – and that is what inspires them both: football. Not the business off the field, not the wit and criticism and petty politics, but the game itself. “Jurgen makes world football a better place,” Guardiola said. “You don’t have to be disrespectful just because you’re rivals,” Klopp added.
Both understand that they have pushed each other – “they managed to make the other better,” said a source – and will talk about the tactical challenges they have set and the evolution of the game.
It’s an incredible thought: Guardiola calling Klopp and Klopp calling Guardiola and it’s even more incredible because of the undeniable animosity that developed between the clubs during their years in charge. It was toxic, in December 2022, when the clubs issued a joint statement after scenes changed in the Carabao Cup quarter-final at the Etihad Stadium, and City’s team bus was attacked on its way to Anfield for the fourth round of the League. the champions. final in 2018.
That game was pivotal and, in turn, revealing. Guardiola made a rare entry in the Amazon series “All or Nothing” released later that year. “Liverpool’s start is good. Those three in advance. They scare me, they are dangerous. I mean it,” he said. Liverpool won 5-1 on aggregate with Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino scoring four goals. But it was a big surprise to hear Guardiola talking like that and that was visible on the faces of his team.
The managers first came up against each other 11 years ago, in 2013, when Guardiola took over Bayern Munich and they played Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund in the DFL-Supercup which ended in a 4-2 win for Dortmund ( Ilkay Gundogan, Guardiola’s first signing at City, among the scorers).
Indeed, although Guardiola won a league and cup double that season, finishing 19 points ahead of Dortmund and beating them in the DFB Pokal final, and although his trophy tally in the following decade is much higher than Klopp’s number, he has a lesser record. against the Germans.
They have faced each other 29 times and Klopp currently has 11 wins, Guardiola with 10. “The way Klopp plays is great to stop the way Guardiola wants Man City to play,” a source explained. “The problem for Klopp’s teams is that there are so many things happening.” Klopp’s approach certainly played with Guardiola’s concept of control.
But when they came to Germany and came up against Klopp – they competed there for two seasons – it came as a relief and a pleasant surprise for Guardiola who admitted he was worn down, physically and mentally , at the bad competition that Mourinho tried to do. fuel between Barcelona and Real Madrid and between the two coaches in Spain.
“In this room (Mourinho) is the f—— boss, the f—— master,” an angry Guardiola declared at a press conference, in 2011, as Mourinho tried to use every trick he had. playbook to settle it, and the two clubs met four times in two weeks as they competed in the Champions League, La Liga and the Copa del Rey.
Incredibly, Guardiola said he intended to focus on football. “He can have a personal Champions League off the pitch,” he told Mourinho, as Barcelona won the treble.
“Mourinho’s head (competition) was bad,” said a source. “Political. It was like a war: Catalonia / Spain, Barca / Madrid, Leo / Cristiano, Pep / Mourinho. There were many things. It is impossible to compare. But Klopp is his toughest competitor.”
After Guardiola’s sabbatical in New York, someone like Klopp faced renewal. “With Mourinho everything was off the field,” said the source. “He never talked about tactics. With Pep and Klopp they usually talk about football. They also have this polite relationship because they really respect themselves and each other.”
What’s also interesting within that is that each manager outperformed the other. Guardiola has never – ever – struggled in his career to beat an opponent as often as he has struggled to get the best of Klopp. And vice-versa.
What’s even more interesting is how everyone met the challenge by adapting their tactics. Guardiola feared Klopp’s front three but was even more afraid of the incredible brutality – the “best in history” – that the Liverpool manager claimed. However, Klopp has changed over the years, giving his teams more control, demanding more possession – and most importantly completely overhauling his midfield last summer – while Guardiola has been mixed with a little more openness and directness, especially since the addition of Erling Haaland. .
They looked at each of them, tactically, and adapted. Would Klopp, for example, have pushed Trent Alexander-Arnold from the back to midfield if Guardiola had not already done so with Joao Cancelo?
As challenging and exciting as it was it was also, naturally, very exhausting. Perhaps especially for Klopp who, in any other era, would have left Liverpool with far more trophies. And that must hurt.
Between the managers they have the four most total points in Premier League history. Going back to 2018-19, Klopp’s side achieved 97 points, the fourth-highest total ever accumulated – but it was not good enough for second place, behind City with 98 – the third-highest in history.
It’s not over, not yet. Liverpool have already won the Carabao Cup and are in contention – and could yet meet City in the FA Cup – although, of course, there are 115 outstanding Premier League charges against City dating back to 2009. If found guilty, there is little prospect of the independent commission awarding any of City’s seven titles, five of which Guardiola won, but the judgment would reassess the legacy of both manager.
Klopp has always faced Guardiola with fewer financial resources, whether in Germany or England, which shows just how good a coach the Spaniard is and what he has achieved.
But he is the one who faded first, although Klopp, in fairness, is 56 and therefore three years older and has been with Liverpool nine months longer. The burnout and fatigue is something that Guardiola is very sympathetic to. With his current contract with City expiring at the end of next season, it would be no surprise to see him step aside for another sabbatical. He is already talking about taking a break after City. Interestingly, both managers have finally shown an interest in national team training – Guardiola is interested in Brazil.
Whatever happens at Anfield on Sunday, don’t expect Klopp or Guardiola to go head-to-head. If they did it wouldn’t be completely out of character with their relationship and it would show how much pressure they are under.
“He told me when we’re not leading any more clubs we can sit together and have a glass of wine, even though I’m not a big wine drinker!” Klopp said. “But we could do that while I’m working and if he’s off, I’d visit him. We could have that talk, no problem.”
Guardiola was always expected to go first. Instead, it’s Klopp and one of the biggest rivalries in the Premier League, maybe even the biggest, up there with Ferguson and Wenger, is about to end.
